Hull Cityneed players and quickly. Tom Huddlestone joined Derby County for £2million, while Eldin Jakupovic and Andy Robertson appear on the verge of leaving the club.

It leaves Leonid Slutsky working with an extremely threadbare squad of players, but he expects his options to be boosted this week as he aims to push through deals for Matthew Pennington and Ryan Kent.

But who are the young duo and what can they bring to the Tigers?

Who are they?

One of a number of promising young defenders in Everton’s first-team set-up, Matthew Pennington will be hoping for regular game time this season but that is unlikely to come at Goodison Park after the club strengthened further with the capture of Michael Keane.

As such, the 22-year-old looks set for a loan move away from the club he has been at since the age of 11.

Liverpool’s Ryan Kent on the other hand is a 20-year-old winger with a bright future. He was included in the Reds’ pre-season trip to Hong Kong to play in the Premier League Asia Trophy.

Kent spent last season on loan at Barnsley where he impressed and Liverpool are keen for Kent to spend another season in the second tier to further his development.

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What positions do they play in?

Pennington plays predominantly as a centre-back, a position the Tigers desperately need to strengthen. Michael Dawson remains the club's only senior central defender and the arrival of the Everton-man would greatly bolster Slutsky’s options.

Although not his favoured position, he can also be played at right-back, which will of course please the Russian.

Kent, however, can play in a number of positions across the front line. Although he is right-footed, he plays mostly on the left wing giving him the option of cutting inside. Nevertheless, he can also play on the opposite side as well as up front and as an attacking midfielder.

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What experience do they have?

While Pennington is the older of the two, he just edges Kent in terms of experience. Three loan spells away from Everton have yielded 53 appearances, with the most coming in 2014/15 when he played 24 times for Coventry City. He has also had short loan spells at Tranmere Rovers and Walsall.

However, it is his Premier League experience which appears the most attractive. The defender has made seven appearances for the Toffees in the top flight, and will be remembered for scoring a goal at Anfield in the Merseyside derby last season.

The defender only made three appearances last term but that may have been more if he had not been injured for a majority of the season.

Conversely Kent is yet to make a Premier League appearance for Liverpool, his sole first-team appearance coming against Exeter City in the FA Cup two seasons ago.

But that may have something to do with the fact that he spent the entirety of last season on loan at Barnsley, where he made 44 appearances, scoring three. He also spent three months on loan at Coventry the season before.

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Will they improve Hull City?

From the sounds of it, yes. The pair are highly thought of at their respective clubs and given the Tigers’ current situation they will likely have a large role to play should they sign.

Pennington will likely be allowed time to build up a partnership with Dawson while Kent will give Slutsky much needed attacking bite.

What does their future look like?

Both players appear far from the finished article, and both look set to spend a large portion of their careers playing in the top two tiers of English football.

However, Pennington has just eleven months remaining on his current deal at Goodison Park meaning he could be set to move away from Everton permanently sooner rather than later.

Kent, though, signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Liverpool in March 2015, meaning he still has two years left to run on his deal. Should he impress on loan, opportunities could present themselves at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp, who is open to giving young players a chance.

When could they sign?

The Tigers are hopeful that Pennington can sign this week in time for the rest of pre-season.

The Kent deal may take a little longer. He is expected to move the other way as part of a deal that would see Robertson join Liverpool but as mentioned above the winger is currently in Hong Kong.